The Denver Nuggets routed the surging Los Angeles Clippers 107-92 on Thursday night, riding 21 points from Ty Lawson and 20 from Danilo Gallinari to their 12th straight home win.
Seven Nuggets scored in double figures as Denver won their seventh straight overall and improved to 27-3 at home, tied with the Miami Heat for best in the NBA. Lawson also had 11 assists.
Despite 19 points from Matt Barnes and 17 from Blake Griffin, the Clippers saw their five-game road winning streak come to an end.
Photo: Reuters
More importantly, they lost the season series to the Nuggets 2-1, a tiebreaker that could come into play if Denver can catch them for the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Right now, the Nuggets are in fifth, behind Memphis.
Chris Paul had 16 points and 10 assists for Los Angeles.
A bucket by Griffin, who was coming off his third career triple-double, gave the Clippers a 60-59 lead, before the Nuggets scored 20 of the next 24 points to grab control.
THUNDER 95, KNICKS 94
In New York, Kevin Durant scored 34 points for Oklahoma City, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:38 left.
Russell Westbrook struggled over the final three quarters, but finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists in the Thunder’s first trip to New York since Dec. 22, 2010. Durant also had eight boards and six assists.
Oklahoma City posted their third straight win, fighting off a spirited effort by a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony.
The All-Star forward missed his second straight game with what the Knicks said is a stiff and sore right knee. J.R. Smith scored a season-high 36 points for New York, but missed a turnaround jumper that would have won it as time ran out.
Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 minutes. Durant scored 12 in the final period.
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